We define philanthropy as the giving of resources in an engaged and strategic way for maximum impact and in a tax efficient manner. It can include the giving of money, assets, time, talent, voice and one’s social capital. We believe in the power of philanthropy as a great social connector and the source of many great opportunities.

Funders network London Funders has received £300,000 from City Bridge Trust to continue its London’s Giving initiative championing place-based giving models across the Capital’s boroughs to tackle inequality and improve the lives of Londoners.

Taking its inspiration from Islington Giving, that has raised more than £5m for the borough and engaged thousands of local volunteers, London’s Giving has helped support giving schemes in seven boroughs: Barnet, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lewisham, Southwark, Sutton, Camden and Tower Hamlets, since its 2014 launch.

It is working with a further nine boroughs interested in starting their own giving schemes, which brings the total number of boroughs involved in place-based giving to 21, including the five that were established before London’s Giving launched.

The £300k grant from City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, will fund London’s Giving as part of London Funders for a further three years with the aim of helping establish schemes in all the Capital’s boroughs and developing the place-based giving model.

Alison Gowman, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust committee, said: “These giving schemes offer a huge amount of support for London communities; in 2014/15 four of the first initiatives raised over £2.8m and distributed £1.9m to local projects.

“This model has already proven to be a huge success so it is great that we are now able to roll out the scheme across all London boroughs.

“City Bridge Trust is committed to tackling disadvantage across the Capital and making London a fairer and better place to live.”

London’s Giving’s Clare Thomas added: “With charities facing an acute funding crisis in the wake of the recession, and in light of London being one of the most unequal cities in the world, London’s Giving is catalysing communities to rise to the challenge by helping local people, businesses, authorities, organisations and funders pull together to meets their borough’s needs.

“Using local data and evidenced by need, the model offers an opportunity to build local fundraising and awareness-raising campaigns with key messages specific to its borough.”

London Funders’ Geraldine Blake says of London’s Giving: “London’s Giving describes a new model for 21st Century philanthropy in London that offers a more joined-up and strategic funding approach to meet identified local needs, and contributes to improved well-being for local residents, narrowing the inequality gap.”

Evidence shows London is the most unequal city in the developed world, with the richest tenth of the population amassing 273 times the wealth owned by the bottom tenth* according to London’s Poverty Profile[1].

It is also the most unequal city in the country containing the highest proportion (15%) of people in the poorest tenth nationally and the second highest proportion (15%) of people in the richest tenth.[2]

London’s Giving will provide practical support and tool kits to develop local giving schemes, capture and share understanding of them through peer-to-peer learning exchanges, and establish common metrics and aims to secure a sustainable future for local giving.

City Bridge Trust is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital. The Trust has awarded around 7,500 grants totalling over £360 million since it first began in 1995. It helps achieve the Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners.

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City Philanthropy – A Wealth of Opportunity is a three-year project funded by the City of London Corporation's charity City Bridge Trust. It aims to promote more effective philanthropy among City professionals earlier in their careers and position the City of London as a leading global centre for philanthropy. To find out more click here